Spiced Chickpea Tostadas (or tacos)

Are you ready for another almost-no-cook summer dinner? Yeah, me too. I love these Spiced Chickpea Tostadas not only because they are they light, cool, and refreshing, but they are the perfect “sweep the kitchen” recipe. You can add whatever you want to your tostadas, based on what you have on hand, so get creative and use up those leftovers! I’ve got some great ideas for substitutions and add-ons below. And don’t worry, if trying to eat a tostada without having the whole thing crumble into a pile of toppings onto your plate sounds too obnoxious, you can totally just make these into tacos instead. ;)

And a quick special note about the prices listed below. I bought almost all of the ingredients for these tostadas (everything except sour cream and radishes) at Aldi, and if you know Aldi, you know their prices are extremely low. If you can’t get prices like this, don’t fret. You can still make some super cheap tostadas by swapping out some of the more expensive ingredients that I used for some of the substitution ideas I have listed below.

Spiced Chickpea Tostadas

Swaps and Add-Ons

As I mentioned above, tostadas are a great way to use up leftovers in your fridge. Here are some other toppings that will go really well with these spiced chickpeas: refried beans, shredded lettuce, diced tomato or pico de gallo, cheese, jalapeños (pickled or fresh), pickled carrots, pickled red onions, roasted corn, grilled zucchini, or shredded cabbage.

Radish: I don’t buy radishes often because they’re not my favorite, but when they’re sliced paper thin they provide the PERFECT fresh crisp crunch on these tostadas. I only used three radishes for the whole batch of tostadas though, which presents the problem of the remaining 2/3 of the bunch. I plan to slice up more to add to salads throughout the week and then I plan to pickle the rest using the same method that I used for my pickled carrots. If you don’t want to use radish on your tostadas, I highly suggest using some other fresh crunchy vegetable in its place to lighten things up. I would either slice some carrots paper thin or add a layer of shredded lettuce or cabbage. Just as with the radish, you want whatever vegetable you use to be sliced or shredded very finely.

I don’t suggest skipping the lime crema, though. That stuff is magic and the tangy and creamy flavor is the PERFECT contrast to the spiced chickpeas. If you can’t have dairy, all I can suggest is trying to find a non-dairy sour cream substitute, although I can’t guarantee how that will taste.

Spiced Chickpea Tostadas

These cool and refreshing Spiced Chickpea Tostadas are the perfect almost no cook dinner for summer. Customize the toppings based on what you have on hand to make the most of leftovers!

Keyword
easy, gluten free, Quick, Vegetarian

Total Cost
$5.38 recipe / $0.90 serving

Prep Time15minutes

Cook Time5minutes

Total Time20minutes

Servings6tostadas

Ingredients

Lime Crema

8oz.sour cream$1.69

1lime$0.19

1small clovegarlic, minced$0.08

1/4tspsalt$0.02

Spiced Chickpeas*

115 oz. canchickpeas$0.55

1Tbspcooking oil$0.04

1/2Tbspchili powder$0.15

1/2tspsmoked paprika$0.05

1/2 tspcumin$0.05

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper$0.02

1/4tsporegano$0.03

1/8tspgarlic powder$0.02

1/4tspsalt$0.03

freshly cracked pepper$0.02

For Serving

6tostadas$0.45

8oz.guacamole$1.65

3radishes$0.33

1handfulfresh cilantro$0.20

Instructions

Prepare the lime crema first, so the flavors have a few minutes to blend. Zest the lime, then squeeze the juice into a small bowl. Add about 1 tsp zest, 1 Tbsp juice, the minced garlic, and 1/4 tsp salt to an 8oz. container of sour cream and stir to combine. Set the lime crema aside until ready to use.

Rinse and drain the can of chickpeas. Heat 1 Tbsp cooking oil in a large skillet over medium. Once hot, add the chickpeas and the spices (chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, cayenne, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper). Stir and cook the chickpeas in the oil and spices for about five minutes, or until you begin to see and hear them gently pop. Remove them from the heat.

Wash and slice the radishes VERY THINLY. Pull the cilantro leaves from their stems.

To assemble the tostadas, smear a thin layer of guacamole over each tostada shell, then top with a scoop of chickpeas, a few slices of radish, a drizzle or dollop of the lime crema, and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro.

Recipe Notes

*I basically used 1/2 of my Homemade Taco Seasoning recipe to season the chickpeas. If you don't have a well stocked spice cabinet you can use 1/2 of one store bought envelope of taco seasoning.

Step by Step Photos

Make the lime crema first, so the flavors have a little time to blend. Zest one lime and squeeze the juice into a small bowl. Add about 1 tsp of the zest and 1 Tbsp of the juice to an 8 oz. container of sour cream, along with one small clove of minced garlic and 1/4 tsp salt. Stir to combine and set aside.

To make the spiced chickpeas, rinse and drain one 15oz. can of chickpeas. Add 1 Tbsp oil to a large skillet and heat over medium. Once hot, add the chickpeas and 1/2 Tbsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/8 tsp cayenne, 1/4 tsp oregano, 1/8 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp salt, and a little freshly cracked pepper. Stir and cook the chickpeas in the oil and spices for about five minutes, or until you begin to see and hear them gently pop.

Wash and VERY THINLY slice three radishes. Pull a handful of cilantro leaves from their stems.

Now it’s just time to assemble! Smear a thin layer of guacamole on each tostada…

Add a scoop of the spiced chickpeas and a few slices of radish…

And finally, add a drizzle or dollop of lime crema and some of the fresh cilantro. Now EAT! :D

25 comments on “Spiced Chickpea Tostadas (or tacos)”

I made this with just guacamole (homemade), the excellent lime crema and the chickpea mixture, as tacos. My husband and I were both big fans! This will make it into the rotation. Very fresh and flavorful.

I first made your homemade taco seasoning mix, subbing chipotle for the cayenne which makes it a little hotter. (This mix is so much better then store-bought!) I cooked up the chickpeas, but then matchsticks up some zucchini, yellow squash and cabbage, stir fried these quickly in hot oil and threw them in with the chickpeas. I did this because I am trying to find creative ways to get rid of the the excess squash in the garden. Thanks for this recipe

I know this is quite a change for this recipe, but do you have any ideas for how to replace the avocado? In this recipe and in general? My family doesn’t like and I actually can’t eat it (allergy), which is frustrating since it’s so ‘on trend’ right now.

I often replace it with dairy, like sour cream or cheese, but I’m not sure that would work in this case.

After seeing you used store bought tostadas and reading a commenter say she couldn’t find tostadas shells in the store, I’m dying to share—YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN!!! 😅

Ive eaten my body weight in tostadas over the years and have never bought tostadas shells. Just heat a little vegetable shortening (or lard if you’re not a vegetarian 😁) in an iron skillet and put a corn tortillas in the hot oil. Flip it over and do the other side until both sides are light brown and crispy. Drain on a paper towel and you now has tostada shell.

Shortening and lard work better than liquid oils (like canola) but I’ve used regular liquid oils plenty of times and it’s been fine. It just crisps up better and isn’t greasy when you use the shortening/lard.

Now go forth and make fresh tostadas.

(And I totally plan on making these chickpea tostadas for lunch this week 😉)

I saw this new recipe and knew I’d have to make it right away! I love so many of your quick and meatless recipes. The spiced chickpeas were delicious, and we added some refried black beans to the tostadas in addition to the other ingredients to bulk them up a bit more. (We also couldn’t find tostada shells at our store, so we just bought hard taco shells and snapped them in half for mini tostadas which worked great.)

Yum! Anything that is good on a tostada makes a good taco, too. I happen to love radishes, and in order to slice radishes, carrots, and other firm veggies super thin, purchased a little mandolin a few years ago. Mine is a real cheapy and not adjustable, but is perfect for super thin salad slices–I’ve used it for cucumber and zucchini, as well as carrots, parsnips, radishes, onion, and potato slices for home made potato chips. I picked up mine for under $15, and there are plenty online in the $10-20 price range. I probably use it 2-3 times a month which is enough to earn its keep in my tool drawer.

Try roasting the radishes like other root vegetables (lots of recipes online if you search, but I usually slice them in half, oio and spice, and cook with onions, carrots, and potatoes). It cuts the bite a lot.

If you slice in half, oil/spice, and roast the radishes like you would any other root vegetable, it greatly reduced their bite. There are several recipes out there if you search roasted radishes, but I normally just wing it. I usually mix them with potatoes (white and sweet), onions, and carrots.

Hi! I’m Beth

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